For those who think that dating app Tinder is definitely a ‘male’ thing, especially in a country like India, here’s an eye-opener: women are more active and engaged on Tinder than men, reveals India head of Tinder Taru Kapoor.

Reason: the young urban Indian woman is more mobile, independent, self-confident and keen to develop her own self-identity than ever before. Kapoor, who joined Tinder in September 2015, points out India is one of its fastest growing markets and the largest in Asia. One million ‘Super Likes’ are sent in India each week, with women sending Super Likes more often than men.

India, she points out, has witnessed a huge change over the last few years. A country where historically it has been very hard for women to choose, meet people and forge meaningful connections with ease — thanks to numerous structural and social barriers that have long existed — is making a cultural shift where women make rapid strides in the workplace.

Was she anxious when she was appointed the India head? After all, dating as a concept, is not only perceived as a male prerogative in the country but is also seen as taboo or risqué. Kapoor asserts she was never apprehensive.

While working for BCG and Sequoia Capital, she had observed how the Indian technology and consumer landscape evolved rapidly. And after graduating from Harvard Business School, she wanted to work in an entrepreneurial role with a startup that had global impact. “Tinder happened to be a perfect match,” she says.

The conservative Indian mindset is steadily shifting. Before Tinder, women often felt overwhelmed using traditional dating sites because men could message anyone they wanted to, whether the woman was interested or not.

Tinder, Kapoor claims, introduced something brand new to empower female users: the double opt-in. Users can only contact one another if they both mutually express interest in connecting. Since conversation can only be initiated once mutual interest is expressed, women do not get bombarded by messaging from men that they are not interested in.

Tinder, she believes, is an effective way to meet new people. Kapoor shares an anecdote to substantiate her point. Last year, someone in Bangalore had formed an alternative music band, and he met three of his four fellow band members on Tinder. A match may lead to a fun date, a new friendship, a lasting relationship, a collaboration or partnership based on shared interests or even a marriage, she adds.So how does it feel to be a woman CEO of a dating company in India? “The feeling is empowering, and I wish exactly that for every woman in India,” she says, “to be empowered today and every day.”

Richa Kar doesn’t believe in mincing words. “At times, it helps being a little deaf,” reckons founder and CEO of online lingerie brand Zivame. She explains how and why.

Sometime in 2015, a potential investor spoke to one of her investment bankers and passed a nasty comment: lingerie as a category is sexy. Furious Kar retorted: “It’s cool, NOT sexy.” What helped Kar calm down was her unflinching belief in one of her survival tricks: turn deaf for a while.

People will, Kar lets on, use unkind words, might pull you down or be too harsh. But just turn deaf to whatever they say. “Don’t let negativity affect you,” asserts Kar, who has always kept her gender aside while doing business.She concedes people might have rejected her — from a potential employee not wanting to join, to a potential investor not willing to put in money or a supplier who doesn’t want to work — because of her gender. But that has never bothered her.

“The beauty of being an entrepreneur is that gender hardly plays a role,” she adds. One is in complete control of the venture as there is no glass ceiling, which might exist in the corporate world.

In spite of facing rejections umpteen times, Kar has neither let the gender issue nor the perception of people about lingerie rattle her. “In a conservative country, we brought lingerie out of the closet and on the TV screen,” she says, adding that she has never been apologetic about her business.

While acknowledging the that lingerie category is judgemental, what has ironically helped her in changing the perception of people, including women, about her business has been her gender. “My voice as a woman trying to sell an intimate category product to women has been an advantage,” she says. The imagery and tonality of the brand comes from the fact that it is headed by a woman.

Kar, who pulled out of the daily operations of Zivame last month to focus more on strategic initiatives of the brand, believes that there are merits being a women leader. “I can improvise change,” she says, adding that a woman leader can have policies around workplaces, can recruit more women and can support them if they want to take a career break. She wonders if all these factors would ever play out in the corporate world where there are not many women leaders.